Majority of those are geared towards specific contacts or groups of contacts.

I just can't get my head around people using forum threads for chatting (other than pumping their post count) sadly Shoutbox support is far and few between. I'd much rather an active chat session rather than relying on constantly updating a thread.

IRC in ZA was really held together by a relatively small group of people who provided entertainment or info for the rest. As they got lives and drifted away, interest waned and they weren't really replaced.
Mxit, Bbm, Facebook etc all contributed to it really dropping below a critical mass. Now when someone tries it there is nothing to hold them there.